Apparatus for pickling and cleaning strip metal



F. J. wooD APP-ARATUS FOR PICKLING AND CLEANING STRIP METAL Mmh 12, 1940.

i Filed Feb. l18.4. 193e'-l 2 sheets-sheet 1 March 12, 1940. F. J. wCoD 2,193,051 I APPARATUS FOR PICKLING AND CLEANING STRIP METAL l Filed Feb. 18, 1938 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 m fm l 65 2i 2l 4 7 6% .n g3

"Eve/zw #mM/mf 55.1954 f6 v @l/my Patented Mar. 12, 1940 APPARATUS FOB PICKLNG AND CLEANING STRIP METAL Frank J. Wood, Riverside, Ill., assignor to Goodman Manufacturing Company, Chicago, Ill., al corporation oi' Illinois Application February 18, `1938, Serial No. 191,167 4 Claims. (Cl. 266-7) Heretofore, pickling apparatus for strip metal have been so arranged as to take care of one type of pickling uid only. Thus, when it is desired to pickle different kinds of metals which require different pickling solutions, it has been necessary lto stop the apparatus and thoroughly clean it out "after the completion of the pickling operation f or each kind of metal. 'This is particularly true with diiierentkinds of non-ferrous materials; as for instance, copper and brass. They each require a different type of solution and if the storage tank is not thoroughly cleaned after the pickling of the copper, the brass will become discolored by the acid from the copper pickling solution, if it Figure 5 is a transverse sectional view taken substantially along line 5-5 of Figure 1; and

Figure 6 is an enlarged detail view showing certain details of construction of the apparatus.

In the drawings the embodiment of my invention illustrated includes a coil supporting box I0 at the entering end of the cleaning apparatus which forms a support `ior a coil of metal II, permitting 1t to be unwound and pass through the cleaning apparatus. From said coil supporting box thefmetal passes through a leveler I2 for levelingland straightening the metal before the cleaning operation, which includes a plurality of power driven leveling rolls I3,- I3. It then passes through a pickling bath I4 where it is given a uniform bath of pickling acid on all sides. Surplus acid is removed from the metal by means of squeegee rolls I5, I5, rotary brushes I6, I6, and squeegee rolls Il, I 1. From thence the metal trough on said channels. A cover 30 is provided to completely enclose the top of said trough.

The tank 2| is provided with a drain 33 in its bottom on one side of the partition 22, and a similar drain 34 in the opposite side of said parl5 ls pickled after the copper. passes througha drier I8 and squeegee rolls I9, I9

Among the objects of my invention is to prof to a coller generally indicated by reference charvide an apparatus which will permit the pickling acter which recoils it. Said coil supporting of a number of different kinds of metals, renderbox, leveler, squeegee T0115, brushes, drier and ing it unnecessary to drain and clean the pickcoller are only shown in an illustrative manner, 20 ling fluid from the system when changing from and the details thereof will not be herein shown the pickling and cleaning of one kind of metal to or described since they form no portion of the another. present invention.

A more speciiic object of my invention is to The pickling bath I4 includes a longitudinally provide a pickling bath which consists of a plckextending tank 2l having a partition 22 extending ling trough extending along a receptacle or storalong the central portion thereof to form two age reservoir adapted to contain a number of storage chambers for the pickling uid, arranged kinds of pickling fluids, and including means as- Side by side. Said tank and partition are lined sociated with the pickling trough for selectively with an acid resisting composition such as rubberv conducting the pickling uid to the desired part or any other suitable composition. A suitable of the storage reservoir during the pickling operbase is-provided for said tank which includes a ation so that the pickling of different materials pair of spaced apart transversely extending supmay be eiected without the delay of emptying porting members or channels 23, 23, upon which and cleaning the pickling fluid from the storage said tank is mounted. Said channels are mounted reservoir before starting the pickling operation on I beams 24, 24 extending longitudinally of R5 of a diierent metal. said tank. 1

Other objects of my invention wil appear from A pickling trough 25 is disposed above and extime to .time as the accompanying specification tends along said tank and forms a means through proceeds. l which the strip metal passes during the pickling My invention may best be understood by referoperation. Said pickling trough, as herein shown, 40 ring to the accompanying drawings wherein: is supported on a plurality of transversely extend- Figure 1 is a diagrammatic plan view of a picking channels 26, 26 suported at their ends on the ling and cleaning apparatus for strip metal conupper ends of pipes 2l, 21 which form supporting structed in accordance with my invention; columns for said channels. Said pipes are mount- Figure 2 is an enlarged fragmentary plan view ed on the outer ends of the cross members 23, 23 of the pickling bath with certain parts thereof in a suitable manner, such as welding (see Figures broken away; 5 and 6). Retaining members 29, 29 are secured Figure 3 is an enlarged sectional view taken at their lower ends to the upper sides of the supsubstantially along line 3-3 of Figure l; port members 2B, 26 adjacent the outer ends Figure 4 is an enlarged sectional view taken thereof and extend angularly upwardly along the substantially along line 4-4 0f Figure 1; sides o'f the pickling trough 25 for retaining said tition. Suitable valves, herein shown as being stoppers 35, 35, are provided to close either of said drains. Each of said drains leads to a common pipe 36 which leads to a T 36a (see Figures 2 and 5).

One opening of the T 36a leads to a fluid pressure pump 31. Said pump is adapted to supply pickling fluid under pressure to the pickling trough 25 and may be of any type well known to those skilled in the art and is no portion of my present invention so will not herein be described in detail.

The other opening of the T 36a serves as an outlet for draining either side of the tank 2| or as an intake for filling either side of said tank with picklingfiuid. Draining of either tank for cleaning, or the replacing of one type of pickling fluid in one side of the tank 2| with another, may thus be effected without disturbing the fiuid in the other side of said tank. Both drains 33 and 34 are adapted to be closed when refilling the empty side of the tank with the desired type of pickling fluid.

It should be understood that a valve 36h is provided in the line leading from the draining branch of the T 36a, which is closed when circulating the pickling fluid through the system.

Pickling fluid under pressure is conducted from the pump 31 to the trough 25 through a pipe 39 which is herein shown as having connection with a pipe 40 at substantially its transverse center. The latter pipe extends longitudinally along the center of the pickling trough and vis provided with a plurality of outlets 4|, 4| disposed along its length and leading through the bottom of the pickling trough 25. Said openings are so formed as to permit pickling fluid under pressure entering said pickling trough to engage the underside of the metal and buoy it up as it passes therethrough, and at the same time to create suflicient turbulence that the metal will be entirely submerged in the pickling iiuid.

Referring now in particular to the means for selectively conducting fluid from the trough 25 to the desired portion of the tank 2|, and certaim 'other novel features of my invention, a tilting fluid deflecting trough 44 is provided beneath the entering end of the pickling trough e 25. Said tilting trough is supported beneath a covering 45 for the sides and entering end of said pickling trough. Said covering includes an end wall 46 spaced from and extending across the entering end of the trough 25 andv having an opening 41 therein, through which the meta-l which is being pickled passes. The end wall 46 of said covering and sides 49 thereof extend beneath the bottom of the trough 25 and inwardly within the inside of the tilting trough 44 to form a restricted conduit leading to said tilting trough.

The tilting trough 44 is rockingly supported on the upper end of the partition 22 on a pair of rocking support members 50, 50, resting on said partition and herein shown as being of a substantially inverted V-shaped formation. Said trough is selectively tilted or held in the desired position of adjustment with respect to the tank 2| by means of an arm 5| secured to the inner side of said trough and extending angularly upwardly and inwardly therefrom. The upperV end gof said arm is pivotally connected to a link 53'which is adapted tov be hand operated for tilting said trough manually (see Figure 2 and 4). A bracket 55 is secured to and depends from the outer end of the channel 26 and has a hook shaped end adapted to be engaged by certain spaced notches (not shown) formed in the underside of said link. l

In a like manner a tilting fluid deecting trough 51 is provided at the discharge end of the pickling trough 25. Said tilting trough is disposed beneath a centering and guiding member 58 which is similar to that shown in a prior application Serial No. 165,016, flled September 22, 1937, now Patent No. 2,141,732, S0 Will 11015 herein be described, excepting to point out that it includes two adjustable pivoted guide members 59, 59 having curved outer sides extending over the upper side of the metal and being adapted to engage the sides thereof for guiding thefmetal through the pickling bath.

The sides and end of the discharge end of the pickling trough 25 are covered by a covering 60 which is similar to that covering the entering end of said trough. Said covering extends from a point disposed ahead of the squeegee rolls I5, |5 and rearwardly along the centering guide 58 to a point beyond the rear end thereof (see Figure 3). An opening 62 is provided in the forward end of said covering to permit the metal to pass from the squeegee rolls |5, |5 to the brushes I6,l I6. The lower portion of said coveringv extends inwardly from the sides and forward end thereof and is provided with a depending restricted portion 63 which extends within the sides of the tilting trough 51 and forms a conduit for guiding the pickling uid into said trough.

, The tilting trough 51 is supported on the partition 22 on a pair of spaced apart rocking support members 64, 64 similarto the members 50, 50. Said trough is tilted by means of an arm 65 which extends inwardly and upwardly from the inner side thereof. The free end of said arm is pivotally connected to a control link 66 for manually actuating said arm and tilting said trough. Said control link is provided with a' plurality of notches 61, 61 open to the underside thereof which are adapted to have selective engagement with thehooked lower end of a rod 68 depending from the support member 26 for holding said tilting trough in the desired position with respect to the tank 2|.

It will be seen from the foregoing that when one metal is passing through the pickling trough 25, the tilting collecting troughs 44 and 51 are tilted in the same direction todischarge the pickling fluid into the desired section of the tank 2|, and when another metal is passing through the system, which requires another type lof pickling solution, the tilting troughs 44 and 51 are tilted in an opposite direction to colf" lect and discharge the pickling uid in the opposite side of said tank.

When it is desired to pickle a different kind of metal than formerly, it isv simply necessary to close the drain of the section of the tank which has been formerly used and pump the pickling fluid from the system and drain it from the trough 25 into said closed section of said tank. The trough 25 should then be cleaned in any suitable manner. The tilting troughs 44 and 51 are then tilted to discharge fluid in the opposite section of the tank 2| from the section which was vused before, and the stopper in said section of said tank is removed topermit the pickling of the other kind of metal Awith the proper pickling solution.

It will thus be seen that a new and improved device for pickling metal has been provided which is so arranged that one storage tank may be used for different types of pickling solutions-,'75

and that the pickling solution passing through the system may be selectively discharged into one side or the other of said tank as desired, to enable the pickling of diiferent kinds of metal with a minimum delay between pickling operations.

While I have herein shown and described one form in which my invention may be embodied, it will be understood that the construction thereof and the arrangement of the various parts may be altered Without departing from the spirit and scope thereof. Furthermore, I do not wish to be construed as limiting myself to the specific embodiment illustrated, excepting as it may be limited in the appended claims.

I claim as my invention: I

1. In a continuous pickling and cleaning device for strip metal, an open end pickling'trough through which the strip metal is adapted to pass, a tank disposed beneathsaid trough and adapted to receive iluid discharged from the ends of said trough, a partition extending along said tank to form separate storage reservoirs in said tank for more than one kind of pickling iuid, means for conducting fluid from a selective one of said storage reservoirs to said pickling trough, and a -iluid collecting member disposed beneath the discharge end of said pickling trough, said collecting member being rockingly mounted on said partition, and having manually controllable means to tilt said collecting member and permit the selective discharge' of the pickling uid into the desired fluid storage reservoir in said tank, to permit the use of dierent pickling solutions without draining the solutionsfrom said tank..

2. In a continuous pickling and cleaning device for strip metal, an open end pickling trough through which the strip metal is adapted to pass, a tank disposed beneath said trough and adapted to receive fluid discharged from the entering and receiving ends of said trough, a partition extending along said tank to form separate storage reservoirs in'said tank for moe than ene kind of pickling fluid,

means forrconducting fluid from a selective one ofy said storage reservoirs to said pickling trough, and a plurality of collecting members, one of said members being disposed beneath the discharge end of said pickling trough and the other of said members being disposed beneath the entering end of said pickling trough, said members being rockingly mounted on said partition adjacent opposite ends thereof and having manually controlled means to control the discharge of the pickling uid from said collecting means into the desired fluid storage reservoir in said tank and permit the use of different pickling solutions without draining the solutions from said tank. f

3. In a continuous pickling and cleaning device for strip metal, a fluid storage tank having two fluid storage reservoirs, an open end pickling trough through which the strip metal is adapted to pass, means for conducting fluid from a selective one of said storage reservoirs to said pickling trough, said trough being mounted on said tank and being arranged to permit pickling fluid to flow into said tank from the ends of said trough, a partition extendingv along said tank to form separate storage reservoirs for more than one kind of pickling uid, means for conducting fluid discharged from" said trough to either of said storage reservoirs in said tank including a tilting trough disposed beneath the discharge end of said pickling trough and having a rocking support member depending therefrom and rockingly resting on said partition, to permit tilting of said trough on said partition about an axis extending longitudinally of said tank, and manually controllable means to tilt said trough and hold it in a tilted position, to permit the selective discharge of pickling fluid in the desired uid storage reservoir in Vsaid tank.

4. In a continuous pickling and cleaning device for strip metal, a uid storage tank having two uid storage reservoirs, an open end pickling trough through which the strip metal is adapted to pass, means for conducting fluid from a selective one of said storage reservoirs to said pickling trough, said trough being mounted on said tank andarranged to permit pickling fluid to llow into said tank from opposite ends of said trough, a partition extending along said tank to form separate storage reservoirs for more than one kind of pickling uid, means for vcollecting uid discharged from the ends of said trough and conducting it to either of said storage reservoirs in said tank including a pair of tilting troughs rockingly mounted on said partition adjacent opposite ends thereof and beneath opposite ends of said pickling trough, and manually controllable means to tilt said troughs andhold them in a tilted positionLto permit the selective discharge of pickling uid in the desired storage reservoir in said tank. f FRANK J. WOOD. 

